Analysis Of Night By Elie Wiesel

He was once kind, thoughtful, and caring of others. But, as his sufferings increased, he becomes heartless, filled with hate, and begins to abandon all that he once held dear. He stops praying early during his imprisonment, and in general becomes selfish. His only concern is himself, and how he is going to eat and survive until the next day. Once concerned about others, he is now focused on himself. Wiesel also feels “free” when his father dies, presumably because he no longer has to look out for or take care of anyone but himself. Wiesel also details another example of changing behavior in the camp, as he tells the story of a son who killed his father simply for a piece of stale bread. These and other behavioral changes describe the kind of environment Wiesel and others were exposed to in the

Alongside with witnessing the death of his father and wrath of the SS officers, Wiesel also experienced the evil of other prisoners. Within the community of the concentration camps, stealing was not uncommon. For example, after it was revealed that he had a golden tooth, Wiesel’s foreman at Buna, Franek, made many attempts to steal it. “'Let me have your crown, kid.' I answered that I could not because without that crown I could no longer eat.... 'If you don't give me your crown, it will cost you much more!' All of a sudden, this pleasant and intelligent young man had changed. His eyes were shining with greed” (“Night” 55). This quote reveals the time Wiesel had first-hand encountered the greed of others. Franek could care less if Wiesel could not eat; he wanted to

Wiesel does a wonderful job with his use of pathos throughout the speech by making the audience reflect on his words and creates a strong emotional reaction for what is being said. From being a survivor of the Holocaust, one of the darkest parts of history as well as the most shallow times for humanity. Immediate sympathy is drawn from the audience. When he states that himself endured the horrible conditions these people had to live in. He then explains to us that the people there, “No longer felt hunger, pain, thirst. They feared nothing. They felt nothing. They were dead and did not know it.” With saying this it brings forth feelings of guilt, one of the most negative emotions to accumulate a reaction towards these events. Also numerous people throughout the world long for world peace and to hear the inhumane acts that was once acted upon an innocent man, makes their stomach's sink. Wiesel defines its derivation, as “no difference” and uses numerous comparisons on what may cause indifference, as a “strange and unnatural state in which the lines blur.” Like good and evil, dark and light. Wiesel continues to attract the audience emotionally by stating this he is aware of how tempting it may be to be indifferent and that at times it can be easier to avoid

many times during the book it talks about Wiesel’s problems. Elie’s first problem would be when he was in Buna, a concentration camp. This was a problem for Wiesel because he didn't have food, water, and at sometimes air. In the book Elie says “ At ten o’clock we were given our daily ration of bread” (Wiesel 34 ). This quote shows how that they only got bread once a day from their SS Officers, and that they didn't have food. Another problem Wiesel had is the loss of family. Elie got taken away from his mom and sister when they were deported on the train but got to stay with his father. Elie says “ I certainly do. But on one condition: I want to stay with my father” (Wiesel 35). With Elie being taken away from his mom and sister, he wanted to stay with his father through the whole thing. Wiesel’s father was his strength to stay alive. Elie had tough adversities he had to go through in his life and he was strong and overcame them.

In the book, our narrator, Elie, is constantly going through changes, and almost all of them are due to his time spent in Auschwitz. Prior to the horrors of Auschwitz, Elie was a very different boy, he had a more optimistic outlook on life. During the first few pages of the book, Elie tells us a bit about how he viewed the world before deportation, “ I was almost thirteen and deeply observant. By day I studied Talmud and by night I would run to the synagogue to weep over the destruction of the temple.” ( 3). Elie was, as he says himself, deeply observant and devoted most of his time to his faith. He spent almost all of his time studying and worshiping. At this point, Elie’s faith is the center of his life. Elie is also shown to do a few other things and has a few more early character traits aside from being dedicated to what he believes in. Elie also sees the best of people, a few pages later he says, “The news is terrible,’ he said at last. And then one word: ‘transports’ The ghetto was to be liquidated entirely… ‘Where will they take us?” (Wiesel 14). This is one of the only time we hear about Elie being worried or scared because of the Germans before Auschwitz, and still, despite the warnings that were given and the rumors circulating, Elie doesn’t think that the Germans are actually going to do all of those terrible things. Around this time in the book, Wiesel starts to become more emotionally weighted, but none of what has happened takes full effect until much later. There are multiple instances in the book where Elie is given reason to distrust or even hate the Germans, he talks about how the Gestapo treated him and his family on page 19 “‘Faster! Faster! Move, you lazy good-for-nothings!’ the Hungarian police were screaming.”. Yet he then goes on to say, on that very same page, that “Still our first

In Elie Wiesel's memoire, instincts of self-preservation overwhelm all other human emotion. While at Auschwitz Elie and his father were transferred to new barracks were Elie's father was beaten by a gypsy inmate who was in charge for politely asking were the bathroom was. Elie describes his reaction of standing petrified and thinking "What had happened to me? My father had just been struck, in front of me, and I had not even blinked. I had watched and kept silent. Only yesterday, I would have dug my nails into this criminal's flesh. Had I changed that much? So fast? Remorse began to gnaw at me. All I could think was: I shall never forgive them for this. My father must have guessed my thoughts, because he whispered in my ear: 'It doesn’t hurt.' His cheek still bore the red mark of the hand." (3.117-120)Elie's lack of reaction showcases how the environment of the concentration camp was already conditioning Elie to put his needs of survival ahead of his human identity. Weasels description of the events show how the brutality of the camps have changed Elie's actions and thoughts because Elie knows that interfering in the encounter would mean sacrificing basic survival; love and human emotions are no longer a priority.

Before Wiesel traveled to this gruesome death camp, he showed an abundance of positive traits. Some of these being his love for his religion, his strong hope for his future, and his powerful, loving family. In the first few pages Elie confesses his love for his religion and his ambition to pursue it to a teacher of the Jewish religion. He says that “...I told him how unhappy I was not to be able to find in Sighet a master to teach me the Zohar…” (5). He was stating that he wanted to branch off of his current religion and learn a new form of it, but he was limited because no one in his area also studied this form of Judaism. We can also learn that he was hopeful because you can tell that he is still trying to learn this other religion. Elie also writes that “Naturally, we refused to be separated” (20). He was speaking about his family in this quote and how he and his sisters had the opportunity to leave their mom and dad so that they could get to a safer place with the family maid. The mother did not want to go, so no one went; Instead they stuck together in the ghettos. They had an immensely strong family bond and it is shown through this passage. The children chose their family over a more certain safety. The next quote came after they were all in cattle carts, and were traveling to the new place. Elie recalls “It was as though madness had infected all of us” (27). Elie was scared during this time, but also reserved. He just kept to himself on while he was in this cart that was heading somewhere that he did not know.

In the beginning he was horrified of the things he saw. On his first day at a concentration camp Elie saw babies being thrown into large pits of fire, people being taken to the crematory and Jews being hit and beaten for no reason. As time past and Wiesel was moved from camp to camp he started to only care about his survival and the horrible things done by the Nazi’s became apart of his everyday life.He saw a boy whose face he said looked like the face of an angel being hung. The little boy struggled to breathe for over thirty minutes before the life in his eyes faded away. Wiesel's own father was beaten because he was sick and not given the proper medical care from the nazi’s. Days later his father was taken to the crematory. Instead of Wiesel being sad he was relieved that he no longer had to take care of his father. Elie lost friends family and saw many more being killed. Wiesel was almost numb to the things happening around him.

As their time in the concentration camp continues, the conditions there worsen. The prisoners are soon forced into a treacherous forty-two mile run in the icy cold, which makes them struggle between life the death. During this march, one thing keeps Wiesel’s will to live alive and that is his father. This shows one of Wiesel’s weakest moments, where he contemplates giving up numerous times. Exhaustion takes over his body, and the only thing he can think about is the pleasures that death would bring him. Wiesel’s mind overpowers him and he reflects, “Death wrapped itself around me till I was stifled. It stuck to me. I felt that I could touch it. The idea of dying, of no longer being, began to fascinate me” (82). However, his father needs him, and that is truly what drives him to keep pushing until the end. They stay alive for each other, which shows how much they really care about the other. While Wiesel rests in the shed after the run, Rabbi Eliahou, a very well-liked man, comes in looking for his son. He and his son have been sticking together for three years. Wiesel expresses that he has not seen him, without realizing that this is false. The Rabbi’s son purposely left him, to strengthen his own chances of survival. Wiesel is taken aback by this, and astonishingly begins to pray. He thinks, “My God,

As Elie gets used to his new life in such a hellish state, he realizes that the trusting and faithful child that he once had been had been taken away along with his family and all else that he had ever known. While so many others around him still implore the God of their past to bring them through their suffering, Wiesel reveals to the reader that although he still believes that there is a God, he no longer sees Him as a just and compassionate leader but a cruel and testing spectator.

This is shown in the memoir as Wiesel starts to question his faith and what he believes in, which is illustrated when he says “My eyes had opened and I was alone, terribly alone in a world without God, without man” (Wiesel 66). This quote takes place during Rash Hashanah, in which he participates in but not only has he questioned his faith, but he has lost his belief in God’s goodness and he truly believed that God would not help them. He even later goes on to say that man is stronger than god which is a huge shift in his beliefs. This example shows exactly how much Wiesel’s outlook changed. Before getting sent to the concentration camps, his beliefs were all he had. His belief and faith in God was very strong and the memoir even starts out with him wanting to practice Kabbalah- the study of Jewish mysticism. This is key because now, we see him with completely different views on God, because as he went from camp to camp and saw death after death he felt slowly God die in his heart. He no longer believed in God, this even though he still said prayers of desperation to the God he no longer believed. Wiesel clearly illustrates the idea of dehumanization changing what someone used to believe because of how they view the world after going through these horrific

Upon entering the concentration camp, Wiesel is disturbed by the mass slaughter, as evidenced by the inhumane selection and widespread starvation he glimpses. As Jewish prisoners respond with religious services and prayers to God for the murdered, Wiesel questions, “Blessed be God's name? Why, but why would I bless Him? Every fiber in me rebelled. Because he caused thousands of children to burn in His mass graves?”

His father did not think that Elie was old enough to participate in the teachings of the Cabbala, but Wiesel continued to learn behind his father’s back. When the Nazis deported the Jews, Wiesel’s strong faith begins to break. Separated from the women of their family, Wiesel tells, “already I felt the pressure of my father’s hand: we were alone” (27). As time in the camp wears on, Wiesel’s God seems to completely abandon him and his father. With His power being relinquished, Wiesel likens this abandonment to a court case, in which “I [Wiesel] was the accuser, God the accused” (Wiesel 65) . On Yom Kippur, a day where Jews would normally fast, Wiesel writes, “I did not fast, mainly to please my father, who had forbidden me to do so” (66). This small act of rebellion towards God helps keep Wiesel alive, with his father’s

He recalls a time when they were still living in the ghetto someone tried to help, but it was too late before they could reach them. “”Someone is knocking at the sealed window, the one that faces outside!’” (14 Night), a person tried to help him and the people living in that specific home in the ghetto flee, but by the time they got the window open, the people had left. In the testimony, Wiesel states, “The war? It was nearing its end. The Allies were going to land in a day, in a week. The Red Army was twenty or thirty kilometers away…” (2 Testimony), giving false hope to Wiesel and his family over the elapse of the war. Wiesel came to realize that no one was coming to help them and continued to lose hope through-out his struggles in Night. The only reason he continued on, and kept fighting was for his father who pushed Elie and told him to keep going, to get out alive. During his time at Auschwitz, Wiesel is told by an officer, “Comrades, you are now in the concentration camp Auschwitz. Ahead of you lies a long road paved with suffering. Don't lose hope. You have already eluded the worst danger: the selection. Therefore, muster your strength and keep your faith,” (41 Night), Elie thought to himself, “Those were the first human words,” (41

Before Elie went to the concentration camp, he had multiple good character traits. (For example, resilience, determination, and questioning.) Wiesel states on page 4 that, “One day I asked my father to find me a master who could guide me in my studies of Kabbalah. ‘You are too young for that. Maimonides tells us that one must be thirty before venturing into the world of mysticism, a world fraught with peril.” This shows that he’s resilient and determined to learn more. As he was determined to learn from Moishe the Beadle, even though his father told him to wait until he was older to learn from him. He still went, going against his father’s wishes and learned Kabbalah from Moishe the Beadle. It shows that he will do what he wants to get what he wants even if someone tries to shut him down. Wiesel writes on page 32 that, “I pinched myself: Was I still alive? Was I awake? How was it possible that men, women, and children were being burned and that the world kept silent? No. All this could not be real.” When Elie was still in Sighet and saw that people were being taken away to ghettos and other places he started to become scared and questioned what was really going on making him more nervous as time went on. If he had believed Moishe he might’ve been ready for what was going on, but chose not to. Elie himself has always been sad and reflecting in the book and shows it on page 34, “Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed....Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even